Which One is the Father?
by GonnaBeFamous
Summary: Contest entry, one shot: Fred and George, as brothers often do, have very similar tastes... and apparently this extends to girls as well. When each secretly dates the same girl at close times, how will they be able to tell which is the father of her child


Which one is the father?

This is my take on the plot given in a contest on a wonderful forum- if you happen to stumble across it (as I assume you have as you are reading this right now) then I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing about this story- the characters are JK Rowling's and the plot is one I had to use for a contest. Still, hope you enjoy my manipulation of it!

2,967 words total follow J

xxx

"YOU WHAT?" shrieked Mrs. Weasley at the top of her lungs, glaring wide-eyed back and forth between her two sons.

"Mum, calm dow-"

"I will not calm down, Fred Weasley, don't you tell me to calm down!"

The twins flinched as she threw the frying pan into the sink and it landed with a loud CLANG. She stood, back turned to them and hands rested bracingly against the wooden countertop, shoulders heaving with every deep, composing breath. For the first time since the day Fred and George had been expelled, the two of them were too fearful of her wrath to speak.

There was a long silence; the only sound in the room was that of Mrs. Weasley's heavy breathing as she seemingly put a restraint on her temper. The twins watched her in apprehension, hoping she was thinking of something kind to say- though both of them doubted that this was the case. They exchanged quick glances, immensely worried about what was to come.

At long last, Mrs. Weasley slowly turned around. Her lips were pursed tightly, her eyes closed. She took another long breath before opening them and surveying, with her amber eyes, both of their guilty faces. She seemingly attempted to relax her expression, but it did little to dull the pink color angrily splotched across her cheeks.

"When did this happen?" She asked in a quiet, tense voice. The chill in the room was undeniable, and it had nothing to do with the weather.

Each Weasley boy looked at the other; Fred made a gesture to his brother inviting him to start first.

"Well, that's the thing, Mum," George said as he slowly withdrew his gaze from his brother's equally anxious face. "We're not sure."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, saying in a tone so low it was barely audible, "What do you mean _you're not sure_?"

George looked at Fred, and the other brother took up the role of speaker.

"It's difficult to say- see; my girlfriend broke up with me only two weeks ago, only a short time after we…" Fred trailed off and looked sheepishly at George, who saved him the embarrassment of finishing his sentence.

George jumped in. "And the girl I'd been seeing broke it off with me a few days ago, because she dated someone a little while back and says she wants to figure out who the father is before getting any further into a relationship." He then added, "She wants to marry the father."

"Well, naturally," Mrs. Weasley scoffed, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world that a girl would only want to marry the father of her child. She paused, shaking her head in disapproval at her sons, who had the grace to bow their heads and look ashamed.

"At any cost," Mrs. Weasley continued tetchily, drying another dish, "I can't imagine the predicament these poor girls must be in… do you see what happens when you disregard the rules of appropriateness?"

Fred and George nodded in unison, having not the courage to disagree with her. Of course, disagreement wasn't an issue in this case; having been the ones that had been broken up with, neither had quite been able to get over the girls who broke their hearts. George unarguably had less to deal with. He'd been dating this girl for a very short time- such a short time that he hadn't even told his brother about her yet. Admittedly, he could survive if he wasn't the father; though, he would have loved the chance to be with her still.

Fred, however, was extraordinarily hopeful that the coming paternity test would prove him the father of his former girlfriend's child, as it would mean having a second opportunity with the girl he had previously been in love with for sixth months. He had loved her so much that he had agreed to keep their relationship a secret; she'd been very afraid that her parents, who viewed all pureblooded wizards as being connected to Death Eaters, would put a stop to their seeing each other. He'd given her his word to keep this from everyone… even his twin brother.

"Have these girls told their parents yet?" asked Mrs. Weasley, having directed the now clean dishes into the cupboard by a flick of her wand.

George looked up and scratched his head thoughtfully. He couldn't remember if she had said anything about her parents…

Fred, however, paled slightly and shook his head, in what he hoped was an inconspicuous manner. Mrs. Weasley raised her eyebrows, and his eyes widened. "Mum, please," he uncharacteristically begged, having a clear idea of her forming intentions to tell the other family. "They'll never let it be- they, they could make her give up the baby!"

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "Why would they do that?" she asked somewhat dubiously. She had a hunch that her son was inventing this to keep from getting into a mix with the girl's father, who would undoubtedly have some things to say to him about the situation he'd created.

Fred looked at her for a moment, silently deliberating his next sentence. "They just- they have very funny ideas about what is appropriate in the Wizarding world."

Mrs. Weasley let out a high-pitched noise that sounded a bit like a cross between indignation and astonishment. "And you don't think that impregnating a young girl is a bit unseemly?"

Fred glared at her, but fell silent. He had made a promise… however untrustworthy he may have been, he would not break a promise- or at least, not the one he'd made to her.

Mrs. Weasley studied her son's face carefully, and then sighed resignedly. "I won't say anything- unless you fail to do so," she said, relenting. She could see that he was sincere- normally, he would have been cracking jokes up one side and down the other. "Now, will you tell me who these girls are?" she paused, and then added, "Both of you."

Both Fred and George waited a minute for the other to speak, and when no sign of sound came from the other, each simultaneously sighed in defeat and said, "It's Angelina."

Each twin's head snapped up, and both turned in their seats and stared at each other, eyes widened. Mrs. Weasley was looking, astounded, back and forth between the two of them, almost expecting their gazes to return to her face with laughter and declare their victory in fooling her. However, no such thing happened.

Fred stood up so quickly that he almost knocked his seat over; Mrs. Weasley, wand already in hand, saved it shortly before it skidded across the Burrow floor.

"What the bloody hell do you mean 'it's Angelina'?" he shouted at his brother, who was still sitting in his seat, looking dumbfounded.

Having realized he'd skipped a beat, George rose to his feet as well. "I mean I've been seeing Angelina for the past week!" he shouted. "What do you mean?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Think about it, dung brain, what'dya think I mean?"

George raised his eyebrows. "You're suggesting to me that- you're the guy she'd been seeing for sixth months? You?"

Fred nodded slowly, a derisive look on his face, which made it clear that he was mocking his brother's slow comprehension.

Mrs. Weasley put her hand to her forehead and pulled over a chair, taking a seat. She looked very faint.

"Why would you- I'm your brother, and you go and date my ex's? What is this?" Fred exclaimed angrily, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Well I never knew you dated her!" George yelled. "You took her to the Yule ball, yeah, but I thought that was all done and over with!"

"Didn't you ever wonder why I took her in the first place?" said Fred, stepping around the table. "I know we don't talk too much about the whole love thing, but come on, I would thing you of all people would have guessed, by how quickly I aimed to ask her, that she was the one I wanted to be with!"

George looked at his brother for a moment, realizing he was right. He had never given much thought to girls when they'd been at Hogwarts; he'd always been too preoccupied with the next major prank they were making plans for. He'd always assumed his brother had been the same way- but then, perhaps he'd been wrong. Well, obviously, he had been wrong.

"Well, I'm sorry," George said, voice lingering between sarcasm and sincerity. "I didn't realize it."

"Well maybe you should have," said Fred coldly, glancing at his mother's beseeching gaze and grudgingly sitting down. He maintained his glare directed at George, wishing they didn't look so alike- then he might be able to efficiently picture a thousand horrible things happening to his brother, without seeing himself in the process.

"George," Mrs. Weasley said warningly, now getting over the initial shock of what had just happened. George too took a seat, though not before moving a sufficient distance from his brother around the table.

"Well," continued Mrs. Weasley, once she saw that George had seated himself. "This is a situation."

Fred harrumphed in agreement, crossing his arms and looking off to the side. George merely shrugged, glancing at his brother's angry expression.

"Nevertheless," said Mrs. Weasley. "You two need to decide what you're going to do about this."

Fred and George each looked at her, and she nodded in affirmation of her seriousness to their unspoken protests. "A child is a heavy burden for any person," she said. "Do you think you can handle that? Do you think you want to?"

"It doesn't matter what we want," said Fred. "She wants to marry the father- whoever that is will just have to deal with it." He paused, and then said quietly, "We owe that to her."

"Still," said Mrs. Weasley. "Babies need constant supervision. They're forever getting into things; anything that fits into their mouths will end up there sooner or later… and if this child is anything like his father, I don't doubt he'll be quite the handful."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at that, seemingly thinking to herself some unspoken thoughts. Now having found out that this child was going to be one of the boy's either way seemed to have made things easier for her to accept… perhaps because it secured some stability in her life. She now knew for a fact that this baby was her grandchild… and she couldn't hold a grudge forever, now could she?

"Yes," she went on, rising from her chair and making her way across the kitchen to get herself a drink. "A baby is a huge responsibility. There are diapers to be changed, a mouth to feed, a stomach to make sure the food stays in-" she chuckled, "and no, the mother is not always the one to do that."

She turned around, and the smile on her face faded. "It takes a lot of love for the mother of your baby to dedicate yourself completely to raising that child. I hope you two realize that… if you don't, I'm afraid you have a very bumpy road ahead of you- and I won't be there to pick up the pieces if you let it fall apart."

Both boys looked up at their mother, concerned expressions on their faces. This wasn't the way she usually spoke- she was always mollycoddling any child who would take it. And now she was pushing them in their own direction, to make all the decisions themselves.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said weakly, making her way over to the door and picking up the bucket there. "Chickens need to be fed. I'll see you tomorrow, for dinner. You know, order meeting tonight."

And with that, their mother walked out the door. They got the impression that she was trying to conceal her misty eyes- though she hadn't done a very good job at it.

xxx

It had taken a long time for the brothers to get over this obstacle- they'd ceased their quarreling, but there was a tension between the two for weeks after, which had never been present before. Nevertheless, having confronted Angelina straight away, things were getting better… and some things were just getting very obvious.

It had become undeniably clear to George in the past few months who the rightful father of the baby should be. Fred still loved Angelina, and George was almost certain she felt the same way. It had turned out that the only reason she'd broken up with Fred was that she had been worried about what her parents would do if they found out, as they had been very close to doing so. George had come to terms with the fact that he had been the rebound- she'd missed Fred, so she'd gone for his carbon copy. Now that Fred had confronted her parents by himself and proven to her that everything could work out, they were having a very difficult time not falling for each other again. But Angelina was adamant about marrying the father of her baby and wouldn't hear or speak a word against it… so they waited, and waited, and waited, until three months after the incident, to find out just who her husband would be.

Now the brothers stood in the waiting room outside the office of Wizard Family Council, in which Angelina was currently sitting, discussing the results with the head of the Department for Unknown Parentage, Eliza Donska. They had no clue who it was, and all they could do was sit with their breaths held until one of their names was called.

Fred hoped, more than anything, that he was the father. He and Angelina had again become very close in the past few months, and he didn't know if he could handle letting all of that slip away… and to his brother, no less. He knew it would feel like some form of betrayal if his brother was the one who got to spend the rest of his life with the woman Fred had come to love. He never would have expected her to turn out the way she had… and yet, when he thought of her, he envisioned some type of angel sent to earth. It had started with their similar interest of Quidditch, and grown into so much more. Now, if only-

"George Weasley," called out a very nasal voice, snapping Fred out of his thoughts. He and his brother exchanged glances as the latter rose and followed a large, broadly set witch out of the waiting room and through a white door… and still, Fred didn't know. They'd been told prior to this meeting that they would be called in separately to view the results. It was cruel, to be forced to wait this long…

George shakily entered the room where Angelina was sitting, and forced his feet to carry him to the chair next to hers. He sat down slowly, examining her tear-stained face. She smiled at him, but he could tell how forced it was.

"You're the father," she said weakly, voice cracking. Her smile quivered, but she fought to keep it on her face. "You're the father…" she repeated softly, as though telling herself.

George glanced from Angelina to the professional looking witch behind the desk, who shrugged and said with a hint of suggestion, "I can only give the results. I'm required to withhold my opinion- so, I will simply affirm what she has already told you. George Weasley, you are the father of Angelina Johnson's child. I'll leave you two to discuss this."

Miss Donska rose from her desk, and made her way across the room. As she was about to leave, George turned around in his seat and said, "Wait, Ma'am… don't tell my brother, yet?"

The witch nodded. "That is, of course, your decision. I'll be up front; please see me before you leave."

George waited until the door clicked shut, and then turned back to Angelina. He looked at her for a moment, and then took her hand.

"Listen, Angelina-"

"I have to marry the father," she said weakly, sniffing. "I owe it to this child…"

"You owe your child a good life, nothing more," George said softly, gaining eye contact with her. "And certainly, if you're unhappy, it will reflect on the child's life, do you not agree?"

Angelina looked up at him and frowned, her expression resembling that of slow comprehension.

"I will marry you if you truly wish it," said George. "But I don't think you do. You love my brother… and he loves you. He has throughout this entire process, and I don't think it's within his range of capabilities to stop. He'll be a good father to this baby… what's more, he _can't wait_ to be a good father to this baby, and a good husband to you. I can't make you choose him… but I think you should. It's not worth losing his trust, on either of our parts, over a stupid thing like blood. After all, isn't that what almost ended you two in the first place?"

Angelina raised her eyebrows, looking distant and thoughtful, and slowly nodded. "And you don't think… you don't think my child will resent this?"

George smiled. "I hardly think he'll know the difference. I think he'll realize that he was well off growing up with Fred as a father… and I'm content with being the uncle- I think he'll like that too."

Angelina gazed at him thoughtfully for another moment before rising. "You're right," she said, nodding with a smile, which was growing stronger by the minute. "Come on- we'd best get going. Fred has an engagement ring to buy…"

x- end story -x


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